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Have you ever used a credit monitoring service? If not, you should strongly consider it. Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in the world and can destroy your life in an instant. The good news is that with the proper preparation you can avoid identity theft of turn things around quickly if you do become a victim of it. On top of that, having your credit monitored regularly can help give an insight into your credit habits and whether or not you’re hurting or helping your creating in the long run. Let’s go over some of the major benefits of credit monitoring.

Avoiding Identity Theft

Having your identity stolen is a terrible situation to find yourself in. Not only can this be a major financial blow to you or your company it can create weeks or months of stress that can have huge negative effects on your mind and body. With a credit monitoring service you will be notified at once if there are any changes to your account and credit profile that seem unusual. In some cases, a credit monitoring company can even block transactions that you obviously didn’t make. This is a great buffer against the threat of identity theft.

Fixing Identity Theft

In some cases identity theft happens and you can’t prevent it no matter how hard you try. However, with a credit monitoring company you can catch it almost immediately and take the appropriate measures to ensure that it does no lasting harm to you or your business. Once notified by the credit monitoring company that odd transactions are being made in your name you can get in contact with the authorities and get every thing sorted out ASAP. This is much better than having to go months trying to fix everything.

Building Your Credit

Building up your credit is a lifelong process where any missteps tend to count against you more than good behaviors count in your favor. With credit monitoring services you can keep track of your credit score and get an idea of how your credit usage is affecting it. Keep in mind though that the credit system is very complex and that deciphering specific actions and behaviors and how they affect your score can be next to impossible. Instead it is best to take a look at your score as a whole and identify patterns in your use of credit over a period of time to get an idea of how you’re doing.

Hiring a Credit Monitoring Service

Finding a great credit monitoring service to keep their eyes on your credit isn’t hard and isn’t expensive either most of the time. Here’s a list of the top 10 credit monitoring services from ProjectDebtRelief.com .The fact remains that having your identity stolen can leave a massive financial stain on your record if you’re not prepared to handle it, or better yet, prevent it from happening in the first place. If you’re not working with a credit monitoring service, you should seriously consider getting in touch with one today to help protect your credit and your identity.

People have lots of different views of bankruptcy. Some people feel like it is an easy way out of a very tough financial situation. Other people feel like it is something that should be feared and that they can never recover from. Neither one of these ideas is completely accurate. It is definitely not an easy way out because it is something that will stick with a person for many years. Even though a person will have to live with the consequences of this decision, they do not need to fear it. Reading the tips below can help a person to recover from bankruptcy.

Have the Right Viewpoint

Basically, filing for bankruptcy is going to help a person to come out from underneath the heavy weight of debt that they were under. As long as they can learn how to manage their finances better in the future, they will be able to recover from this. Having the right viewpoint of the situation is going to help a person to feel less stress and it is going to be better for their relationships, especially their marriage.

Say No to Credit Card Offers

Even when a person is going through the process of bankruptcy, and after it has been discharged, they are going to still receive credit card offers. Now is the time for you to start rebuilding your credit; you do not want to be in the exact same situation you were before you filed for bankruptcy. Resisted the temptation and learn how to start budgeting your money right.

Learn How to Manage Your Finances

Not everyone has to file for bankruptcy because of the way they have managed their finances. However, there are a lot of people who have found themselves in this situation because of the way they used their money. It would be a good idea for a person to take some classes or at least to read some books about managing money. Basically, they will be able to start over again with a clean slate, and they will not only to learn how to use the money they have wisely, but they will also be able to learn how to use credit in a proper way.

You Need Credit to Build Credit

Everyone knows that they need to have some line of credit open if they are ever going to be able to rebuild their credit. One way that a person may do this is by accepting a credit card from a department store. This would basically limit their purchases to that store, and so they will not be tempted to use it for other things they do not need. Or a person who needs a vehicle could try to get a car loan. They want to make sure that they will be able to make the monthly payments on about the vehicle. This means that a person will have to sit down and make a monthly budget so they can figure out how much they can genuinely afford. Once a person has a department store credit card or a car loan, they need to make it their priority to pay these things each month.

Whether it’s preparing for retirement, or their kids education or some other project, many people, when they find themselves with a little extra money, begin looking for ways to make a little money a lot of money. The options are myriad, so the choice can be confusing. Should they invest real estate, bonds, or leave their hard earned money in a savings account. The return may not be great but the money is relatively secure.

Another investment vehicle many investors hear about are stocks. The stories make stocks tempting. Stories of investors buying a stock for pennies , then watching their investment increase exponentially practically overnight. Then there’s the down side of stocks bought at the height of the market and crashing taking the investors hard earned money with them. if only there was a way to have growth potential of stocks while minimizing the risk? This is when some investors start looking at mutual funds.

Below are some facts about both mutual funds and individual stocks to help the investor make an informed decision.

Mutual Funds are professionally Managed:

Mutual funds are professionally managed by people who have gone to school and done the research to choose winning stocks. This eliminates the need for the investor doing the research on which stock to invest in. However the investor does need to investigate the mutual fund, as well as it’s managers to get an idea of the track record of the mutual funds.

Mutual Funds are diversified:

Mutual funds are diversified, meaning the money is spread over several different stocks and some even branch out to different industries. This takes advantage of the old adage of not putting all one’s eggs in a single basket. With diversification, the rise or fall of a single stock is not as devastating to an investor.

Mutual Funds are convenient:

Many investors find mutual funds more convenient than individual stocks. Many investors use stocks or mutual funds as only part of their investment strategy but individual stock purchases can quickly eat up the lion’s share of the investor’s time. Each stock must be investigated for past and future performance as well as the market the industry is part of overall. This can quickly lead an investor to spending several hours a day investigating stocks. With a mutual fund the research is done for the investor. Instead of the entire world of stocks, the investor is presented with a few stock, the mutual fund manager deem worth a closer look for investing.

Overall, most investors find mutual funds safer than individual stocks for the above reasons as well as many more. Also some investors have a mixed media approach to investing. They might invest in a mutual fund as well as individual stocks that might catch their eye. This gives the investor the best of both worlds, safety under the umbrella of a mutual fund with the freedom to select stock on their own.